Soul Power is a 2008 documentary film about the Zaire 74 music festival in Kinshasa which accompanied the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in October 1974. The film was made from archival footage; other footage shot at the time focusing on the fight was edited to form the film When We Were Kings.
Editing
Footage resurrected from 35 years of neglect.
Sound
Celia Cruz's voice could power a small nation.
Production
Mobutu Sese Seko's propaganda backdrop vs. pure Black joy.
Director
Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte
James Brown
Self (archive footage)
Bill Withers
Self (archive footage)
B.B. King
Self (archive footage)
Muhammad Ali
Self (archive footage)
Don King
Self (archive footage)
Manu Dibango
Self
Miriam Makeba
Self (archive footage)
Celia Cruz
Self (archive footage)
Hugh Masekela
Self (archive footage)
George Plimpton
Self (archive footage)
Debbie Sledge
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The same crew shot 'When We Were Kings'—this was literally the B-roll until 2008.
Zaire 74 was meant to unite Africa through Black American music; instead it revealed fractures—most artists never got paid.
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